Facial recognition technology is being used by the organisers of the Beijing Marathon to ensure that runners don’t submit false times.

During the half marathon scheduled for Sunday, officials plan to use face-recognition software on an anticipated 20,000 competitors.

According to local media, cheating has unfortunately been a running trend in China's marathons.

To clamp down, Chinese Athletics Association (CAA) released new rules in March that penalize repeat cheaters with a lifetime ban from all marathons, Xinhua reported.

Practices such as hiring ringers and switching numbers bibs have been reported in marathons in Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Xiamen.

The plans come after a tourist temple in the capital began using face recognition to prevent toilet roll theft.

The public bathroom at the Temple of Heaven Park disposes only a small amount of paper — approximately two feet in length — for each person once every nine minutes, following an initial face scan to store the identity of the user.